My daughter gave me the raised eyebrow, at first. This gesture grew more common as she approached the age of 18.
She was long past the age of knowing it all, yet facing an increasing barrage of commands and questions with no apparent answers. Yet.
“Where are you going to college?”
“What do you plan to major in?”
“It’s time to register to vote.”
“Order your cap and gown.”
“Don’t forget to apply by the deadline.”
“Have you applied for scholarships and grants?”
“Choose your invitations. Now.”
The packets of college information that beckoned her reached higher than her stack of massive textbooks, and rather than confuse her with advice while she was already saturated with too much information, I suggested that we create a Vision Wall.
“A What?”
“A Vision Wall. A place where you post pictures of your hopes and dreams, and then you can decide from there. “
Polarized by the process and unable to think past the next ten minutes, she allowed me to start it for her. A few acceptance letters, a picture of a beach for a hoped for vacation, and a picture of her favorite college football team making it to a bowl game filled her wall. Soon, we added a couple of Christmas ornaments sent by some of her wooing colleges. A scholarship offer, and eventually, a picture of the car she hopes to own one day, and the job she desperately needs to obtain, in spite of the zero minutes of free time that she has. She was beginning to grasp the idea.
“We can’t even afford any of these colleges, and I don’t know what I want to major in.” She exclaimed in exasperation.
But the wall allowed her to focus on what might be possible, rather than what she thought was not. And slowly, she considered options for her future that were bigger than before. She also added pictures of things she would like to do for other people.
By labeling her dreams, and more importantly, giving them a designated space, she also gave them permission to grow, even while she was too busy to pay attention to them.
And though she still may give me the occasional raised eyebrow, and has many important decisions to make, she realizes that any of these choices can be good ones. That anything is indeed possible.
And that God might be doing more than she ever realized with her future.
